has hit the UK ology?
Politicians and financial firms are looking for ways to fix this very fragile and arguably broken economy but the proposed potential solutions are too small scale: stamp duty, 50p tax and the recent government new build indemnity scheme are just very small effectors on a much larger machine. There is no silver bullet so are the proposals called for by these
anti-capitalist demonstrators the answer? Calls to turn Britain into a Marxist state is one of the messages
being touted at the Finsbury Square demonstration however it is one of the many fragmented proposals being made from the discontent crowd. The majority of protests have so far been spearheaded by
student organisations and, as a recent graduate and speaking to students, it appears to me that the logical-minded and rational protestors who have genuine views and thoughts on the government and the economy are unfortunately in the minority. Calls to leave the euro and to cut ties with the United States
seem to stem from the glamorisation of movies such as V for Vendetta and it seems that the “fashion” for rebellion is catching on. Ideologically the messages all sound very rosy but beneath that veneer of a utopia is a core of confusion. I asked one protestor ,“So what kind of policy proposals do you think should be made?” To which they responded, “I don’t know; it’s not my job
to change things. I’m here to tell people that things can be changed.” Regardless of how disjointed the message is from
demonstrators, they are generating a huge buzz and for good
reason.It is clear the current system isn’t working. If it was we wouldn’t be in the financial mess we are in now. Economists, lenders, regulators and brokers alike have all identified that there are wrinkles everywhere within the financial system whether it be regulation constricting lending, the sovereign debt crisis or a housing shortage. It’s not just the protestors who are clamouring for change. The regulators are attempting to break the status quo as well but in a much more bureaucratic manner.
Yuan Phoon, reporter, Mortgage Introducer
There is now a disconnect between a lot of ordinary working class people and a very small group of senior capitalists who have made a lot of money on the back of many ordinary workers.
In other words I think there is now a kind of crisis with capitalism in the eyes of these people, where a large organisation makes a £4bn profit but at the same time announces that 10,000 to 15,000 people are going to be made redundant. Youth unemployment broke through the one million mark this October to a record high and the UK’s wider unemployment rate has climbed to a 15-year high. Making redundancies at this time is not helping the image of those financial institutions as they are seen to be contributing to a crisis. Would it not be better in their eyes that the organisations only make £3bn profit but retain at least 5,000 to 10,000 of those people and keep them in full employment? Furthermore I honestly think that governments - certainly in countries like the UK and possibly the United States - do not know what to do with these protestors because they are not violent anarchists.
They seem to be pacifists but they are making a lot of noise. They are letting the world know that the form of capitalism which we’ve experienced over many years is now, in their eyes, not working. Clearly if a few can press some buttons on a computer and make millions and millions of profit day in day out, that’s not exactly the same as someone who is manufacturing goods or providing other types of services which are adding to the wealth of the country. Personally I don’t think this is the end, I think this is the start. I’m not sure that any of the UK politicians know how to handle this form of peaceful protest and I can see more and more of these tented villages appearing in future in some of our bigger towns across the country. It’s not
John Malone, executive chairman, PMS
over yet, folks.
sense. Do you want to be a part of the next Bigger Issue? Email
nia@thepublishinggroup.co.uk mortgAge introdUcer DECEMBER 2011 25
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